Port Louis

Mauritius is a tropical island paradise situated in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean.
Mauritius will enchant you, will uplift your soul, making you feel that you belong to the chosen few. Every visitor enjoys personal attention. Every encounter is an opportunity to discover a friendly face. Behind each smile lies the promise of a unique holiday. The contrast of a multitude of colors and tastes, the island, set in its turquoise sea, is an oasis of peace and tranquility. Mauritius, a melting pot where past and present are smoothly blended together, offers an essential beauty that will compel to return to its shores time and time again. May your stay with us remain engraved in your memory forever.

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The capital of the island of Mauritius is a town full of character and slightly faded elegance, set prettily within an amphitheatre of mountains at the mid-point of the west coastline. Port Louis is a noisy, bustling town with some rather hectic traffic by day, but is not a hot nightspot. Nightlife in Mauritius tends to focus on the holiday resorts. The Caudan Waterfront, however, does offer some restaurants and bright lights after dark.

Symbolic of its multi-faceted colonial history, the city boasts some fine French buildings dating from the 18th century, an Anglican and a Catholic cathedral, a mosque and a fortified citadel, known as Fort Adelaide. The fort is the best place from which to enjoy a panoramic view of the town, harbour and famous racecourse (which was once a French military parade ground, and became the first racecourse in the southern hemisphere).

It may be the capital, but Port Louis is not home to the vast majority of Mauritians; the main residential areas are in the cooler, wetter highlands inland. However, Port Louis is the gateway to the prime beaches and resorts of the Mauritian coast, including Flic and Flacq and Grand Baie. Although the reason most people visit Mauritius is for sun and sea, the capital city has some interesting museums and entertaining excursions to offer for those who choose to make it their base for exploring the rest of the island.

Central Market

The diversity of the Mauritian population is never more obvious than during a visit to the lively, bustling and colourful Central Market, accessed from Farquhar Street, near the the harbour in Port Louis. When you enter take note of the ironwork on the gates, erected in 1844, dedicated to Queen Victoria. Inside the market is a whirl of Muslim traders, swarthy Indian touts, Chinese and Creoles, all demanding attention as they offer their wares. It is advisable to visit the market early, before the heat of the day descends (it opens at 6am every day including Sundays), and be prepared to have your senses assailed with a variety of odours from the fruit, herbs, spices, potions and lotions and various other goods offered for sale.

Natural History Museum

Port Louis’ Natural History Museum is well-visited mainly for one single important exhibit: a replica of the flightless bird, the legendary Dodo, which has been extinct since the end of the 17th century. Researchers believe the dodo was a member of the pigeon family, which weighed about 50 pounds (23kg) fully grown. The bird was found only on the island of Mauritius, and was discovered by the Portuguese explorers around 1505. The bird became extinct because of the predators such as dogs, pigs, rats and monkeys that were introduced to the island by European colonisation. Numerous other Mauritian bird species have also been driven to extinction, including two related to the Dodo.

Blue Penny Museum

The lively Caudan Waterfront in Port Louis features the Blue Penny Museum, which is primarily devoted to Mauritian art and history, but whose place of pride is given to two of the rarest stamps in the world: the Mauritian 1847 'Post Office' Penny Orange and Twopence Blue, estimated to be worth more than US$1million apiece. Mauritius was the fifth country in the world to begin issuing postage stamps, back in 1847, and some of the few remaining early island stamps are now highly valued around the world. The museum is run by the Mauritius Commercial Bank, which formed a consortium of local companies to purchase the stamps at an auction in Switzerland in 1993, and bring them home for posterity.

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